Traditional wireless communication networks involve a device communicating with a base station or access point. The base station or access point serves a group of users in a geographic region or cell. A device-to-device (D2D) network is a wireless communication network that supports device-to-device communications with or without utilizing access points or base stations. D2D communication may be used to implement many kinds of services that are complementary to the primary communication network or provide new services based on the flexibility of the network topology.
In a D2D wireless communication network, device discovery is needed for devices to understand the network topology and identify other devices in its vicinity. Device discovery is accomplished using discovery message signaling by the devices in the network. If a device identifies other devices in its vicinity, the device can use that information to establish communication link with those devices. If a base station is also in communication range of the devices in a D2D network, then the base station can also assist in the setting up of D2D communication links.
In the case of Wi-Fi Direct, devices identify each other by using a peer-to-peer (P2P) Device Address which is set to be its globally administered MAC address (IEEE Std 802.11-2007).